Delightful Cantonese
We may have implied at some earlier date our affinity for all types of Asian cuisine; our favourite, we believe, is the charming practice of dim sum. Some aspect of this meal, with its array of small and tasty tit-bits, manifold sauces, and dumplings of most any variety, touches us deep within and provides the most satisfying of lunchtime experiences. Done well, it is a true culinary delight. Done only passably, we are nevertheless almost always satisfied.
Our choices in the Kitchener-Waterloo area are, unfortunately, scant. We have sampled the fare at Cameron's numerous times, and while the food is typically well-made, it is far more expensive and far less varied than the offerings in Mississauga and even Hamilton. King Tin in Waterloo is preferred on weekends by some, but our experience at their mid-week buffet left us underwhelmed. Risley's in Cambridge came and went with little fanfare; we attended lunch there twice, and found their food merely passable and their manners atrocious (why must we insist on receiving chopsticks and small tableware at dim sum?), and we were unmoved by its passing into the aether.
Thus we were intrigued by a note (or, perhaps, advertisement) at an online forum where local eateries are oft discussed, indicating that a new dim sum experience is to be found in Kitchener. Having our Chinese-born relative in town and no immediate plans for lunch, we found an excursion to be warranted.
The establishment is a former pizza-themed chain restaurant; the exterior has been barely touched, but the inside is bright, clean, and attractive. There were very few other diners present, although over the noon-tide the crowd increased appreciably.
The dim sum menu is, sadly, rather limited. There were almost no dishes of particular interest, and a number of our favourites were either missing or well-disguised. We decided to request a handful of dim sum dishes, and in addition a seafood chow mein to be shared among out party of three.
One of the staff, whom we surmise to be in a managerial role, arrived to double-check our order; she informed our Chinese-speaking relative that the deep-fried squid item on the dim sum menu was unavailable due to a lack of tentacles, and recommended a dish of salt-and-pepper fried squid instead. We assented, this being yet another favourite preparation of ours. We settled in with a pot of tea to await the repast.
And wait we did. We did not consult our timepiece, lest opening a pocket-watch be considered rude by the staff, but we estimate that fully twenty minutes passed before the first dish was placed on the table; it may even have been thirty. However, the dishes arrived approximately together, and were all hot and fresh.
The siu mai and har gow were both of good quality; the chicken's feet were decent, though perhaps a little heavy on the five-spice powder; the bean curd rolls were at best adequate, with a strange unidentifiable taste lingering among them somehow.
The chow mein was remarkable only for its size; it was a very small dish considering its $12.95 price tag. A handful each of squid (too tough), scallops, shrimp, and fish (we think cod) adorned a small patch of fried egg noodles, covered liberally by a slightly too thin black bean sauce. But this sauce, unfortunately, was too bitter. The fermented black bean travels best with a touch of sugar to loosen the clenched jaw and relax the pursed lip, yet the chef had omitted to observe this important principle. We do not propose to tell the chef his job, but really, we request only the most basic of accommodations, here.
The vaunted salt-and-pepper squid was indeed fine, with the squid fried crisp but still quite tender and flavourful. We confess to enjoying the dish completely, until we found an unpleasant surprise near the end of the meal.
Lest our reader feel we have unfairly kept him in suspense, we hasten to identify the source of the unpleasantness: the bill. We have already noted the high price of the chow mein, which is, we maintain, unsupported by the dish's size or quality. However, we advise the reader to be in a seated position when we reveal that the cost of the squid dish -- numbering about a dozen pieces of squid, and ordered, we remind the reader, on the advice of the attending staff member -- actually cost more than the chow mein, ringing in at an unanticipated and decidedly unfair $13.95.
We have indicated, we believe, that we are not afraid of paying for food that justifies its cost; however, we did not reach a state of financial independence by making rash or unwarranted orders at lunch-time. The bill, totalling approximately $52, was obscene. Even Cameron, which, we have mentioned, we consider overpriced, seems a bargain at that rate.
So our advice, unfortunately, is that one ought not to visit the Delightful Chinese Cuisine restaurant. Their dim sum may be tolerable, but their prices and portions are not to be borne: they are to be pointed at and ridiculed, preferably from a distance. We hope that any readers who find themselves in the restaurant's confines pay close attention to the bill of sale before ordering; or, if one is interested in dropping a substantial packet on dim sum, we suggest that other options within a reasonable distance might be considered instead.
Our choices in the Kitchener-Waterloo area are, unfortunately, scant. We have sampled the fare at Cameron's numerous times, and while the food is typically well-made, it is far more expensive and far less varied than the offerings in Mississauga and even Hamilton. King Tin in Waterloo is preferred on weekends by some, but our experience at their mid-week buffet left us underwhelmed. Risley's in Cambridge came and went with little fanfare; we attended lunch there twice, and found their food merely passable and their manners atrocious (why must we insist on receiving chopsticks and small tableware at dim sum?), and we were unmoved by its passing into the aether.
Thus we were intrigued by a note (or, perhaps, advertisement) at an online forum where local eateries are oft discussed, indicating that a new dim sum experience is to be found in Kitchener. Having our Chinese-born relative in town and no immediate plans for lunch, we found an excursion to be warranted.
The establishment is a former pizza-themed chain restaurant; the exterior has been barely touched, but the inside is bright, clean, and attractive. There were very few other diners present, although over the noon-tide the crowd increased appreciably.
The dim sum menu is, sadly, rather limited. There were almost no dishes of particular interest, and a number of our favourites were either missing or well-disguised. We decided to request a handful of dim sum dishes, and in addition a seafood chow mein to be shared among out party of three.
One of the staff, whom we surmise to be in a managerial role, arrived to double-check our order; she informed our Chinese-speaking relative that the deep-fried squid item on the dim sum menu was unavailable due to a lack of tentacles, and recommended a dish of salt-and-pepper fried squid instead. We assented, this being yet another favourite preparation of ours. We settled in with a pot of tea to await the repast.
And wait we did. We did not consult our timepiece, lest opening a pocket-watch be considered rude by the staff, but we estimate that fully twenty minutes passed before the first dish was placed on the table; it may even have been thirty. However, the dishes arrived approximately together, and were all hot and fresh.
The siu mai and har gow were both of good quality; the chicken's feet were decent, though perhaps a little heavy on the five-spice powder; the bean curd rolls were at best adequate, with a strange unidentifiable taste lingering among them somehow.
The chow mein was remarkable only for its size; it was a very small dish considering its $12.95 price tag. A handful each of squid (too tough), scallops, shrimp, and fish (we think cod) adorned a small patch of fried egg noodles, covered liberally by a slightly too thin black bean sauce. But this sauce, unfortunately, was too bitter. The fermented black bean travels best with a touch of sugar to loosen the clenched jaw and relax the pursed lip, yet the chef had omitted to observe this important principle. We do not propose to tell the chef his job, but really, we request only the most basic of accommodations, here.
The vaunted salt-and-pepper squid was indeed fine, with the squid fried crisp but still quite tender and flavourful. We confess to enjoying the dish completely, until we found an unpleasant surprise near the end of the meal.
Lest our reader feel we have unfairly kept him in suspense, we hasten to identify the source of the unpleasantness: the bill. We have already noted the high price of the chow mein, which is, we maintain, unsupported by the dish's size or quality. However, we advise the reader to be in a seated position when we reveal that the cost of the squid dish -- numbering about a dozen pieces of squid, and ordered, we remind the reader, on the advice of the attending staff member -- actually cost more than the chow mein, ringing in at an unanticipated and decidedly unfair $13.95.
We have indicated, we believe, that we are not afraid of paying for food that justifies its cost; however, we did not reach a state of financial independence by making rash or unwarranted orders at lunch-time. The bill, totalling approximately $52, was obscene. Even Cameron, which, we have mentioned, we consider overpriced, seems a bargain at that rate.
So our advice, unfortunately, is that one ought not to visit the Delightful Chinese Cuisine restaurant. Their dim sum may be tolerable, but their prices and portions are not to be borne: they are to be pointed at and ridiculed, preferably from a distance. We hope that any readers who find themselves in the restaurant's confines pay close attention to the bill of sale before ordering; or, if one is interested in dropping a substantial packet on dim sum, we suggest that other options within a reasonable distance might be considered instead.
posted by the Droll Bastard at 10:37 p.m.
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